On the Day of the Memory of St. Sergius of Radonezh, the Novgorod Museum-Reserve opened for the first time for an excursion visit the church of the XV century, located in the Vladychny Courtyard in the Novgorod Kremlin.
The monument was built by Archbishop Jonah in 1459-1460. It was the first church in Russia dedicated to the revered ascetic. In addition, it is one of the earliest gate temples preserved in Russia, the museum's press service said.
The temple was not intended for mass services, the bishop served here. In part, this tradition persists – in the XIX century, and now services are held twice a year, in summer and autumn, on the Day of Memory of St. Sergius of Radonezh. Immediately after the construction was completed, the temple was painted. 
Today in Veliky Novgorod it is one of two temples with monumental paintings of the XV century. The church of Sergius of Radonezh has preserved an altar arch, an altar, a deacon, ornaments, rosettes and, most importantly, fragments of the life of Sergius. 
This is the first monumental painting where the life of Sergius was captured. The image of the life occupied the northern and western walls, but in the XIX century the temple was rebuilt: the church lost the apse, it was planned to paint over the entire monumental painting. But the famous Novgorod local historian and archaeologist Vasily Peredolsky intervened, who suggested removing the hagiographic cycle from the wall and transferring it to a plaster base in order to preserve this painting. 
The frescoes depicting the life of Sergius were transferred to the Novgorod Museum, but during the Great Patriotic War, most of them disappeared. Only some fragments of the life have been preserved: Christmas, the Assumption, the communion of Sergius with divine fire and the scene where Sergius of Radonezh was given water when a full-flowing spring flooded from the ground.